October 11, 2017

It is very easy when working as a #life-coach or #business-coach to underestimate the level of insurance cover you need. There are many reasons for this under estimation which might include that you do not understand your legal liabilities or that you do not have an up-to-date valuation of your assets.

During our life coach training diploma we discuss the main types of insurance that life coaches and business #coaches should consider. We recommend that you take out a policy which includes professional indemnity and public liability even if you do not meet your clients face to face. Let me explain, public liability covers you in the event that you have claims made by members of the public for incidents which happen in relation to your business activities by covering the cost of compensation for: personal injuries, losses of or damage to property. You may feel that you are never going to have a client to your premises but there may be a time in the future when a wealthy or prestigious person wants to meet you before hiring your services and you decided to meet in a hotel. Anything can happen which may or may not be under your control.

Professional indemnity insurance (PI) covers your legal costs and any expenses incurred in your defence, including any costs or damages awarded, if you are alleged to have provided inadequate advice or services that caused your client to lose money. I realise that as life coaches we do not give advice but you cannot control the way the client interprets your questioning guidance. As business coaches there may be times where advice is asked for.

Have just completed the workshop part of the June #Life #Coaching Diploma Course which is the second part of the course and we had a very busy and fun filled time. Life Coach course reviews from fully qualified coaches:

‘I found The Life Coaching Handbook really comprehensive, deeply insightful, easy to understand and very practical – it really does cut through the coaching jargon present in many other coaching books. That combined with my decision to train with Curly Martin was a real winner. Curly offers the personal touch that so many training organisations lack. After just the weekend which was packed with motivational, inspirational material, expert guidance and hard core business set up advice and tips, I felt confident enough to start coaching straight away and I did!. It was the right decision to train with Achievement Specialists.’ T Groth-Andersen

We work at a fast pace by starting with a demonstration of non-directional coaching which is followed by the students coaching in real time. What I mean by this is, I do not use role-play during the coaching demonstration nor do the students pretend to coach in an imaginary situation. They actually coach for real; they review the goal setting exercise with the client, followed by using the #ICANDO coaching model. They investigate the topic the client has selected as important to work on today, explore the current situation and aims of the client. During this the fledgling coach will tease out as many different ways the client can take to achieve the aim/goal and discuss the outcome indicators, then,
THIS IS THE IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ROLE-PLAY AND REAL TIME, Read More

curly

March 29, 2017

Are you procrastinating and using ‘I have no money’ to stop you from becoming the best life coach ever! In fact, are you also using ‘I must be perfect and fully ready before I launch my coaching business’?
Listen up! I bagged my first business coaching contract with no marketing, no business cards and almost no idea! The contract was with a large insurance company to coach 20 managers in improving performance for both the managers and their individual teams.
Life coaching and business coaching had not become the multi-million pound/euro business at that time, it was only just emerging. My book, The Life Coaching Handbook. Everything You Need To Be An Effective Life Coach http://www.achievementspecialists.co.uk/life_coaching/books had only just been launched and was still steaming from the printing press. I did not know at publication that it was the first book worldwide on how to become a life coach. There were other life coach books but they all concentrated on how to life coach yourself not on how to become a life or business coach and run a successful coaching practice.

curly

February 8, 2017

Whilst running the Life Coaching Diploma course last weekend sleep deprivation was suffered by a third of the attendees. Sleep is important for many reasons with rejuvenation and concentration being part of the long list. If you are not sleeping well this affects all other areas in your life. There are many sites and blogs about sleeping which i recommend you look at if you are suffering. Here is my take on the subject. Prepare for sleep. This means treat sleeping as the second most important thing in a day. The first being awake.
If I have not slept well and awake early, rather than lying in bed frustrated about the fact that I have not slept, I get up and get going, knowing that the following night (or the one after) I will sleep because I am tired.
Some of the things I do and don’t do

Do’s
1. Treat my bed as a sanctuary from the daily demands
2. Calm my breathing and pay attention to relaxing
3. Remind myself that resting my body is part of the process
Don’ts
1. Eat or drink just before going to bed
2. Check my smart phone or tablet in bed
3. Worry about not sleeping – rest is the key

There are lots of really good blogs about healthy sleeping from experts on the topic – I have shared some of the things that have worked for me. Good luck.

curly

January 23, 2017

Recently my husband bought a music mixing box from the website of a large UK company. The box did not perform as he was led to believe and so he decided to return it. Here is where it gets interesting, on their website T&C’s (and their employees) were quoting the old 7 day return legislation.

Coaches beware the law changed and came into force on 13th June 2014, whereby cancellation rights (distance and off-premises contracts) was extended to 14 calendar days. As a large proportion of #life-coaching is sold over the phone or via websites it is important for you to work within the law.

I explain this legislation (and other relevant legal requirements) during the workshop part of our level 7 #life #Coaching diploma #course and I realised that #coaches trained before that date may not be aware of the legal changes. If a large company is making this serious error, it is quite possible that some #life #coaches are doing the same.
Please make sure your terms and condition are up to date visit: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/contents/made

With Christmas only around the corner and the New Year right behind it, now is a great time to do some self #coaching. Look at the time in front of you and search for a specific moment over the next 10 day just for you. The time can be split over a few days or all together in one larger slot.
Find a quiet space where you will not be interrupted. If you are thinking wow that will be impossible, be #coaching creative. Will you be in the car on your own at any time? If yes, add a little extra time and pull into a car park as this will be fine. #LifeCoaching can be done anywhere especially when you are applying #coaching on yourself for yourself. You just need to find a time and a space for it.
I am assuming you have found the space and the time, here is what you do.
1. Reflect on the year just past and ask yourself, what went well, what could have been better?
2. Imagine you are now at the end of 2017 in the same place. Ask yourself ‘What one awesome thing did I achieve this year?’
3. Now plan how you are going to do this awesome thing. What, who and how can help you to achieve it?

#Life-coaching is a very powerful tool for change and it can be done by one of my expertly trained #life-coaches (who you could hire to ensure you achieve this awesome thing) or you can #lifecoach yourself. Make sure you take the arch with the awesome future not the arch of the brick wall to nowhere.

Whichever arch you take, I want to wish you huge #success, robust #health and infectious #happiness for 2017.
Curly Martin

Here are a few of the reviews of the workshop part of my Level 7 Life Coach Diploma Course which was held last weekend.

“Excellent course and content. Great mix of practical and classroom work. Stretching and challenging FUN! Curly was brilliant and so was Kathrine. I am absolutely shattered! I am motivated to be the best coach I can be and I will always strive for excellence – Curly, you are an inspiration.” Excellent chosen in all review categories. B.C.

“Fantastic course, fast pasted. I am so glad I have chosen the Platinum. (This is the top option of the coaching diploma and she will be mentored by me for 6 months after the workshop.) Challenging, yet a very powerful course for those who are 100% committed.” Excellent chosen in all review categories. J.R.

“Curly so very useful and empowering. I have learnt so much the pace was perfect and the marketing session was really useful.” Excellent chosen in all review categories. L.R.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the course, it was stimulating and inspiring.” Excellent chosen in all review categories. R.A.

Here are the topic we covered:-
Workshop Overview
Practical Coaching Activities – During this workshop you will experience 14 separate practical coaching sessions using the goals you prepared in PART 1. The sessions will be arranged in the following format:- Read More

curly

February 23, 2016

Spring
I love spring as for me it represents all the aspects of Life Coaching at its best. Spring delivers sunshine and showers, the yin and yang of life. It is the sunshine combined with the showers which create the environment for new growth and because of all this new growth the animals start reproducing to maximise the opportunities of great abundance of food.

This has for me, huge resemblance to life coaching; Spring and Life Coaching are full of energy, opportunities and new growth. Most people are excited when Spring arrives as it brings with it new life in all its forms and I always feel the same excitement when I am coaching my clients. Usually when a client comes to me for coaching they are stuck and lacking in energy or direction. Just like being at the end of winter, the joys and excitement of Christmas and New Year are long gone and the days are still short, grey and cold.

Spring sunshine brings out the best in people, it invigorates, it warms, it lifts human spirits and provides the energy and impetus to take action. Life coaching does the same, it brings out the best in people, it energises clients, it lifts their spirits and confidence and it gives them the impetus to take action. It warms both he client’s and the coach’s hearts.

curly

October 21, 2015

Remember that your client has all the resources they need within them and resist the temptation to give advice or directional contributions to the coaching session. Simply get on your clients bus and go along for the magical mystery tour letting your client do the driving and the coach becomes the passenger.

Passengers do not tell the driver how to drive, which route to take, how the bus functions, what to do in the event of an accident, they just watch interested in the scenery (behaviours) or asking the driver about the route (client background/goals/ideas) and which roads the driver could take to reach the destination (outcome). The passenger may mention a route they had heard about so the driver could have choices but the passenger does not drive and therefore the decision on the roads to take is down to the driver (client).

Sometimes the passenger points out things of interest along the way (successes/achievements) If the bus driver becomes lost you can look at the ordinance survey maps (Beliefs and Values elicitations) or the country map (goals) to decide which route would best get you both back on track towards the destination (outcome).

curly

May 21, 2015

As the quote says, ‘Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.’

I think this quote sums up Life Coach Training very neatly. What do I mean by that? Well, money offers a route towards wherever you wish to go. Just like the ICANDO coaching model we use, where you follow the process of the ICANDO model either in whole, or part, depending on your clients’ chosen direction. The coach will use the model when coaching to discover the Read More